Heavy monsoon rains during the month of July, have caused flooding, flash floods and landslides in several parts of Myanmar, including in the Sagaing Region and Kachin State. Cyclone Komen, that made landfall in Bangladesh on 30 July, brought strong winds and heavy rains resulting in further floods, landslides and wind damage in several states and regions across the country. On 31 July, President U Thein Sein issued a statement declaring natural disaster zones in Chin and Rakhine states and in the Sagaing and Magway regions.

According to initial figures from the Government’s Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD), over 156,000 people have been affected across Sagaing, Kachin, Shan, Mandalay, Chin, Rakhine, Kayin, Mon, Bago, Magway, Ayeyarwady and Yangon as of 1 August. However, there are many areas that have still not been reached or reported on by assessment teams and information that is still coming in from the Government indicates that the total figure may be significantly higher. According to Government sources, at least 27 people have been killed by floods in July. As further information becomes available, this figure is also expected to increase.

In Rakhine, eight townships across the state are reported to be affected by floods and wind damage: Minbya, Mrauk U, Kyauk Taw, Myebon, Ann, Paletwa, Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Floods and damage are reported to be particularly bad in Mrauk-U, Kyaktaw, Minbya and Buthidaung. Initial reports indicate that there is extensive damage to shelters and other infrastructure in camps around Sittwe, where some 100,000 displaced people are staying. Villages in the area are also reported to have been affected. Reports of damage to camps and villages in other areas, including in Pauktaw Township, are also coming in. No overall figure for the number of people affected across Rakhine State is yet available and some areas, including Mrauk-U and Kyaktaw, are not yet accessible except for via air, due to disruption of transportation systems. The Rakhine State Government and international organizations are carrying out assessments in affected areas and more information will become available in the coming days.

Limited information is available at this this stage on the situation in Magway Region and Chin States. In Magway, two of the worst affected townships are Pwintbyu and Sidoktaya, according to humanitarian organizations in the area. In Pwintbyu Township alone, around 70 villages are reported to be affected by floods and people in the area being relocated to schools, monasteries and other safe locations.

In Chin State, heavy rains and landslides are reported to have occurred in Haka town, with at least 100 houses reported have been destroyed by landslides. Haka Town is reportedly inaccessible at the moment due to roads washed away.

The Sagaing Region was severely affected by floods throughout the last two weeks of July, with 13 townships affected. Initial reports indicate that Kalay Town has been critically affected by the strong winds and heavy rainfall in the wake of Cyclone Komen and is reportedly reachable only via air at the moment.

Local authorities, the Union Government, the military, as well as the Myanmar Red Cross Society and local civil society organizations, with support from the UN and international organizations, are responding to the floods in different parts of the country, carrying out rescue operations and providing food, water, blankets, medical and other basic necessities to those affected.

According to the Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology update on 1 August, rain or thundershowers will be widespread in Kachin State with likelihood of heavy rainfall in Bago, Magway Sagaingm Taninthayi and Yangon regions, and Chin, Rakhine and Mon states the next two days.

On 1 August, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported that national disaster preparedness committees are making evacuation and resettlement efforts in Ayeyawady and Bago regions, as well as Kayin and Mon states, which are also experiencing floods.

The next OCHA Flash Update on the floods emergency will be issued on or around 3 August.

Following the announcements of the presidential elections on 24 July, there has been a general atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in Bujumbura and around the country. Sporadic gunshots were reported in Bujumbura during the reporting period and subsequent police operations in some sections of the town sometimes resulted in blockade of traffic, disrupting normal operations. In the southern Province of Makamba, heavy fighting was reported by media on 25 July between the Burundian army and unidentified armed group. The Burundi Red Cross Society (BRCS) confirmed there was no humanitarian impact, but unverified numbers of people displaced returned to their homes following calm in the area.

The United Nations Electoral Observation Mission in Burundi (MENUB) issued a preliminary statement on 27 July, concluding that while the Election Day was relatively peaceful and conducted adequately, the overall environment was not conducive for free and credible elections. MENUB also reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s call for the cessation of all forms of violence, respect of basic human rights and the resumption of dialogue. The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama added his voice in condemning African leaders who refuse to give up power as he made the first address to the African Union in Addis Ababa on 28 July. Obama singled out Burundi’s President Nkurunziza whose re-election to a third term provoked weeks of unrest. Meanwhile, despite having withdrawn from the elections, the main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa was elected first vice president of the national assembly on 30 July while the ruling party CNDD-FDD was confirmed president of the assembly. Mr. Rwasa earlier won a seat in parliament during the legislative elections on 29 June. Rwasa was quoted saying he would take part in the new government as a legislator to try and force change from within the system.

A parliamentary session held on 28 July adopted the suppression of point 2 of article 19 of the constitution which stipulates for ethnic and gender balance. This violates parts of the Arusha Agreement. The adoption by the House of Parliament means that there would be no need to alternate leadership between ethnic groups which could have serious implications moving forward. There have been tensions primarily between the two main tribes, Hutu and Tutsi.

In other developments, Reporters Without Borders called for the rapid and unconditional reopening of the media in Burundi and guarantees for the safe return of all journalists who fled abroad. The organization, which advocates for freedom of information, pointed out that Burundi’s five privately owned radio stations are still silent, since destruction in May during the attempted coup.

In the past week, evacuations due to landslide risks took place in Chitwan, Dhading, Kabhrepalanchok, Makawanpur and Sindhupalchok. The reports did not specify the level of Government support to the evacuation process. Reports also suggest that the process has been delayed because of residents’ unwillingness to move.

Outside the 14 most affected districts, media reported that at least 19 people were killed and 32 missing following two landslides in the western district of Kaski on 30 July. On a separate event, at least six people have been reported dead in landslides that struck various VDCs in Myagdi district.

Floods triggered by incessant rainfall in Dolakha swept away a bridge over Charangekhola along the Lamosanghu-Jiri road on 25 July. Consequently, this obstructed traffic between Chautara, Sindhupalchok, and Charikot, Dolakha, as well as between Charikot and the capital. The Nepal Army, in coordination with WFP and logistic cluster, are responding to repair the bridge.

The District Public Health Office (DPHO) in Nuwakot reported that cases of malnutrition have risen following the earthquake. According to the DPHO, 89 children with chronic malnutrition were identified in a recent survey and pregnant and lactating women were also experiencing malnutrition.

Three Palestinian civilians were shot with live ammunition and killed in the context of search and arrest operations in the West Bank: On 22 July, a 21-year-old man was shot in the chest in Birqin village (Jenin); on 23 July, a 53-year-old man was shot while reportedly trying to protect his son, who had been shot and injured moments earlier in their home in Beit Ummar village (Hebron); and on 27 July, a 20-year-old man fell from a roof after being shot multiple times while attempting to escape from Israeli soldiers in Qalandiya Refugee Camp (Jerusalem). The immediate cause of the latter death remains unconfirmed. This brings the number of Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank since the start of the year to 17, compared to 19 in the equivalent period of 2014.

Israeli forces injured a total of 66 Palestinians, including five children and five women in multiple incidents across the West Bank. Nearly a third of the injuries (21) took place in the context of search and arrest operations, including those operations noted above resulting in fatalities. Another 12 Palestinians were injured in clashes triggered by the announced entry of an Israeli Minister into Al Aqsa Mosque Compound on the annual Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av; this is the first such entry since November 2014.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces shot and injured two fishermen, reportedly sailing at 6NM from shore, and a 14-year-old child, who had been playing with other children within 50 meters from the fence. Overall, Israeli forces opened fire towards civilians in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) on land and at sea on at least 23 occasions during the two-week period. On two occasions, Israeli forces entered and leveled land near the fence inside the Gaza Strip.

Also in Gaza, a 67-year-old woman was injured in her house east of Al Bureij Camp, during an Israeli airstrike targeting a nearby military training site. The airstrike was reportedly launched in response to a Palestinian rocket fire. The Palestinian rockets landed in open area in southern Israel resulting in no injuries or damage.

Seven Israeli settler attacks resulting in injury or damage to Palestinian property were recorded, including the physical assault of a shepherd from Qwawis (Hebron) and a 4-year-old girl near Al Ibrahimi Mosque in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city; a Palestinian bus driver sprayed with pepper spray in East Jerusalem; a water well vandalized in Deir Istya village (Salfit); five dunums of cropped land damaged in Al Khadr (Bethlehem); and 200 olive saplings uprooted in Turmus’ayya (Ramallah).

Five Palestinian attacks against settlers and other Israelis and their property were recorded. According to Israeli media, the attacks involved stone throwing, and in one case, the hurling of a Molotov cocktail and fireworks at Israeli settlers, their houses and vehicles, injuring four Israeli settlers. All attacks were recorded in the Jerusalem governorate, except one recorded in the Ramallah governorate.

In Area C, Israeli authorities demolished three commercial structures in Idhna village and a water cistern under construction in Beit Ula, both in Hebron governorate, due to lack of building permits; in the latter village the authorities also uprooted and confiscated around 350 olive trees and leveled around 30 dunums of cultivated land on grounds of their location in land designated by Israel as “state land”. In East Jerusalem one Palestinian family sealed their home, and another family demolished their home pursuant to order issued by the Israeli authorities on grounds of lack of Israeli-issued building permits.

On 22 July, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by the widow of one of the perpetrators of the 18 November 2014 synagogue attack against the Ministry of Interior’s revocation of her permit to stay in East Jerusalem. This ruling paves the way for the forcible displacement of the woman and her three children from the city.

The Rafah crossing was closed in both directions by the Egyptian authorities during the two week period. So far in 2015, 7,504 Palestinians have exited Gaza via Rafah compared with 19,806 Palestinians in the equivalent period in 2014. This measure directly affects at least 12,000 people registered to cross in both sides.

Protection concerns are widespread in Nepal, including trafficking, child marriage, gender-based violence, lack of civil documentation and discrimination based on caste, indigenous ethnicity and gender. This report provides a topic-wise snapshot of pre-existing protection concerns prior to the 25 April earthquake as well as an analysis based on the limited information available of the impact of the 25 April and 12 May earthquakes on the protection situation. As this is a crosscutting issue that should be integrated throughout the humanitarian response, this report aims to inform everyone responding to humanitarian needs.

KEY FINDINGS

Main pre-crisis protection concerns

Indigenous ethnic groups and low-caste groups such as Dalits tend to live away from easy-to-access settlements, and are traditionally marginalised.

Trafficking of women and children for sexual or labour exploitation is a long-standing problem.

Nepali society is patriarchal, so gender discrimination is present – and often accepted as the norm – in many aspects of life. Women from marginalised caste and ethnic groups face even greater challenges.

Current risks

Dalits are not members of District Disaster Risk Reduction Committees (DDRCs) in any of the 14 most affected districts, possibly leading to greater neglect of this group’s evacuation and relief needs. Access to assistance for many other marginalised groups is also a concern.

Female representation is lacking on decision-making committees at the community and site level.

Access to relief for people with limited mobility, including the elderly and people with disabilities.

Approximately 24% of the population does not possess a citizenship certificate, which presents a barrier to accessing government relief services and benefits. Women, low-caste, and indigenous ethnic groups in particular, face challenges acquiring citizenship documents.

Widespread damage to WASH infrastructure and displacement of communities has resulted in a lack of adequate segregated sanitation facilities for men, women, and third-gender, increasing the risk of gender-based violence, particularly in spontaneous settlement sites.

Pressure on household resources may lead to adoption of negative coping mechanisms, including GBV and increased alcohol use, and heightened risk of child labour and trafficking.

Access during monsoon is further impeding already limited systematic monitoring of protection issues.

Recommendations for humanitarian response

Mainstream gender, child protection and GBV throughout clusters, particularly in needs assessments, and coordinate with protection cluster to enhance prevention and response to protection issues that arise in various sector activities.

Collect data disaggregated by gender (male, female and, where relevant, third), disability, caste, and age across sectors to ensure needs of vulnerable groups are measurable and addressed at VDC level.

Encourage more representation of women, Dalits and indigenous ethnic groups on community-level committees to ensure equitable allocation of relief resources and monitoring of humanitarian response.

Distribute relief equitably for vulnerable groups, based on need with targeted assistance to persons with specific needs. Establish mechanisms for assessing whether distribution is equitable and need-based.

Map out district-level government criteria for allocation of relief based on housing and land ownership status and provide assistance to fill gaps exist for those who are landless/lack ownership documents.

Ensure adherence to Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement for communities being evacuated.

Media reports suggest that the death toll could be as high as 120. The number is likely to increase as more bodies are recovered from the rubble, where an unknown number of people were trapped 36 hours after the attacks.

This attack is being characterized as the deadliest since the escalation of the conflict on 26 March, and it is thought the casualties are all civilians. The attack targeted workers’ housing near the local power plant in Al Mukha. Around 120 houses out of the 200 houses in the Power Station staff compound were badly damaged.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 20,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were residing in Al Mukha District, some of whom were in or were staying close to the destroyed complex.

The Director of the Taizz Health Office reported that local hospitals were overwhelmed by admission of mass casualties. Roughly 100 injured people were taken to hospitals in Al Hudaydah Governorate around 184 km from Al Mukha.

This attack came a day after the conclusion of the Eid holiday in Yemen and a day prior to a planned humanitarian pause.

Medical emergency kits were dispatched today to local hospitals and mobilization of mobile health clinics is also planned.

Official figures point to over 23,300 deaths and injuries since the conflict escalated on 26 March.

This bi-weekly report provides an update of the main movement patterns in Nepal since 25 April. There are currently two main movement flows within Nepal; earthquake and monsoon hazard-related movements and internal and external migration. This paper focuses on the first type of movement, including people displaced as a result of damaged, destroyed houses, and from areas at risk of landslides. For more information on external migration and remittances see the Note on Migration and Remittances. The main information sources feeding into this report include the CCCM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), Flowminder, ICIMOD, Durham University and media articles.

KEY FINDINGS

The most recently available data from mid-May indicates that over two million people are not living in their original houses. Around 2.5%, or 60,000 people, are residing in sites with 20 or more HH. The majority of those displaced reside in close proximity to their house. Between 2-6% of the pre-earthquake population of many districts left their home district after the earthquake. Currently, at least 117,000 people are residing outside of their district of normal residence, either because of economic migration or in search of safe shelter.

Movement due to landslides and the risk of landslides is increasing. Over 50,000 people live in areas that have experienced a large number of landslides in the two months after the earthquake. On 30 June, the Government issued a directive to district-level authorities to evacuate an estimated 50,000 HHs in 200 settlements considered at high-risk of landslides; planning figures were revised down to about 15,000 HHs in mid-July. According to various media reports, fewer than 800 HHs had been evacuated by district authorities since the directive was issued, while about 8,000 HHs have reportedly self-relocated without Government support.

The available data on displacement shows that overall movement between districts has decreased since the earthquake. For instance, the majority of districts outside of the Kathmandu Valley experienced large inflows of persons from other districts directly after the earthquake. However, since mid-June these numbers have mostly stabilised at a slightly higher level than normal. A comparison of the CCCM DTM results round II and III shows that across the affected districts, the number of sites and people residing in spontaneous settlements have decreased. However, the larger sites are growing in population. Access to basic services in the larger sites has slightly improved.

Heavy monsoon rains, the rapid melting of snow and outbursts from glacial lakes have led to flash floods and the flooding of the Indus River in various locations across Pakistan. The floods have affected 23 Districts across Pakistan with 55 reported fatalities and 14 people injured. Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and six Districts of Punjab province have been hit the hardest, with a high risk of floods in Sindh province in coming days. The Pakistan Army and Government authorities are providing immediate response. OCHA is in contact with national and provincial disaster management authorities, and continues to monitor the situation. NDMA continues to monitor the situation, and issue early warnings/alerts on weather and flood advisories to relevant disaster management authorities.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country: Ethiopia, South Sudan

Key Issues:

The on-going El Niño phenomenon will continue to negatively affect rainfall patterns until the first quarter of 2016.

The relief food beneficiary figure is expected to increase for the remainder of 2015. The HRD midyear review is tentatively scheduled to be launched in mid-August.

Following the cholera outbreak in South Sudan, health partners in Gambella are working with the Government to implement preventive and control measures, including awareness raising and drug pre-positioning by UNICEF.